With maritime traffic in the Suez Canal still being held up by the Ever Given, downstream effects are already visible, from freight delays to issues with oil tankers. On this episode of Midday Market Update, Kaylee Nix and Michael Vincent dive into what’s happening and what it could mean down the line for freight.
The Suez crisis topped this episode’s headlines, with a piece by FreightWaves’ Greg Miller detailing the implications of the blockage on the tanker business. Next, FreightWaves writer Clarissa Hawes published an investigative piece alleging a human-trafficking scheme disguised as driver jobs that lured foreign drivers into unsafe working conditions. Finally, Joanna Marsh looked at five Wall Street reactions that followed the announcement of a Canadian Pacific- Kansas City Southern railroad merger.
The guests for this episode started off with Jason Roberts, senior vice president and business unit president at Avenger Logistics. Avenger just went through an acquisition by MODE, and Roberts talked about what it takes to seamlessly transition through a merger, as well as how important culture meshing is.
Mathew Elenjickal, FourKites founder and CEO, joined Nix and Vincent with some exciting news: FourKites announced a $100 million series D funding for 2021. Elenjickal said the pandemic really highlighted the need for extreme freight visibility, and FourKites was able to take that need and bring the company to the next level.
He had some insights on what FourKites was seeing in the Suez Canal and how his company was helping clients anticipate the downstream effects of the delays.
Last up was FreightWaves Air Cargo Editor Eric Kulisch talking about how Hong Kong’s restrictive COVID-19 quarantine policies are affecting airfreight movements. Kulisch said there are major impacts to FedEx’s and UPS’ air cargo business, but there are exceptions for flights from Anchorage, Alaska, which in turn benefits Cathay Pacific.
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